Base Defenses
There are a variety of options available to assist in defending your base. You can build defense platforms on which you then mount base weapons and base specials. You can also build walls to absorb damage from ballistic weapons. The best ways of building defense structures is to combine both of them in such a way, that will cause the attacking fleet to waste more time overwhelming them. A common policy here is to encircle a defense platforms with walls (one terrain tile can host a tower in the middle and one wall layer circling the tower). A double wall can also be useful, though it will require more planning and placement actions, because one terrain tile won't be enough for it. =Walls= Walls are the obstruction between ballistic weapons and your buildings/defence platforms. They will however not impede any other weapon, and contrary to popular belief they do not stop splash damage but just gets flattened along with everything else withing the impact area. Walls are placed individually and can be rotated to either be flush with other walls, or kept as individual pillars. The main objective of them is to prevent damage from ballistic weapons. Wall construction and upgrade does not require a builder, i.e. you can build a defense platform (or any other building) and simultaneously build and/or upgrade walls. A wall takes 3 seconds to build, several walls can be built the same time, just like terrain. Walls are zynthium heavy, so be sure to have it stockpiled before starting some wall building/wall upgrading campaigns. Level 5 walls were new, added July 2013, and take 2.2M zynthium to build! However, they still build quickly in just 3 secs. =Defense Platforms= Base weapon (turrets) are mounted on stationary defense platforms. The higher the level of the platform, the better the armor the longer it will survive an attack. Starting at level 3 platforms they can also accept Base Specials. A Level 4 (L4) platform is also called by some a "DU4 Platform" as you need to have already researched Depleted Uranium 4 armor to build it. You start out building Defense Platforms level 1. Higher level Defense Platforms are aqcuired by upgrading a lower level one. =Base Weapons= These are the weapons you can place as turrets on your defense platforms to defend your base against attacks by other players. Most of them can be researched in your Weapons Lab, but a few can only be obtained as Blueprints. Short Range Weapons These base weapons are designed to rapidly deal large amounts of damage to ships that get close. They force most fleets to slow down and destroy them from range before proceeding. Howitzer Cannon Mid-range, large-caliber, anti-ship ballistic cannon. Howitzers are ballistic base anti-ship weapons that fire at a fast rate. There are four levels of howitzers; each level has higher damage, range and firing speed than the previous. Layered Armor protects attacking fleets against howitzers. These are hard-hitting but short range weapons and when not protected by other longer range weapons can easily be destroyed by attackers from a safe distance.' ''Peacemaker mortars, seige mortars (draconian tech), assault mortars (draconian tech) and shockwave mortars (draconian tech) can avoid this weapon when attacking bases.' The Depleted uranium shells 3 blueprint special increases the offensive capabilities of Howitzer Cannons with a 40% boost to accuracy and a whopping 50% boost to damage. Cerberus Rockets Available since April 2012, the Cerberus Rockets do splash damage making them good against stacked ships. Slide Loader is the only base special that enhances the offensive capabilities of Cerberus Rockets. Currently, there is no special to increase the range of Cerberus Rockets. Cerbs L4 are quite deadly to all ships of all classes. Long Range Weapons These Weapons have a long range to target ships attempting to destroy a base from a distance. They force most fleets to speed up so as to close with them quickly. Sentinel Missiles Long-range, heat seaking missiles. Most bases still have Sentinel missiles as base weapons. this can be 'cured' with the reactive armor special. Currently, only the Thermobaric Casing and Scramjet Engine specials increase the offensive capabilities of Sentinel Missiles. Victory Mortar Powerful long-ranged mortar, excellent for destroying large armadas. Victory mortars are explosive mortar shells good for near the heart of your base, where it has more coverable range on water. Currently, Slide Loader is the only special that enhances the offensive capability of the Victory Mortar. The largest draw back is the mortar's inability to hit fast moving targets (Eng 2 or higher). Hailstorm/Hellstorm can shoot down some mortars too. Halo Missile Long Range defense missile that splits into multiple warheads to blanket an area with splash damage. '''This Base Weapon requires a blueprint to build.' Compared to the VM 4 it has superior minimal and maximal range and splash radius . The drawback compared to the VM4 is that the Halo has somewhat worse spread (even though the splash highly compensates for this) and worse D/RT (if we don't count resistances). Phalanx anti-missile can shoot down some of the Halo warheads before they land. Arc Missile The Arc Missile Turret is a smaller and more compact version of the Halo Missile. Just like the Halo Missile, Arc Missiles will benefit from Scramjet Engines. This Base Weapon requires a blueprint to build. Javelin Railgun This Base Weapon requires a blueprint to build. First released during the Drac Hunt 3 raid in April 2013. Players required tier 5 to achieve this monster of base defences. It is a slow shooting very long range, upgraded version of the Howitzer. The Rail Gun is a slow firing cannon that uses charged particles to shoot projectiles at high speed towards invading ships. With super high range and damage but slow reload times, this could be just the weapon to defend against those annoying fleets. Capable of inflicting damage across almost the entire base area, this weapon can sit safely in the middle of a base -- combined with Depleted Uranium shells, it makes a lethal (and unavoidable!) guardian to your front door. Defensive Weapons These weapons attempt to intercept incoming fire so as to reduce the damage taken from attacking ships. Flak Gun Anti-missile, anti-rocket defense cannon used to shoot down missile and rocket barrages fired by enemy ships. The Flak Gun shoots yellow defensive lasers at enemy missiles and rockets. Currently, only the Barrage Rack special increases the Flak Gun's capabilities. Bombard Rockets Anti-mortar defense cannon used to shoot down mortar shells from enemy ships. Each higher level of defense weapon fires more salvo's with greater accuracy. Multiple Bombard Rockets will still only fire one shot against each incoming Mortar shell. Currently, Enhanced Propulsion is the only special that increase the offensive capabilities of Bombard Rockets. Category:base design